Mindless feeds don’t feed our mind, they feed our mindlessness
Suppose we regularly eat food that is high in calories and low in nutrition. We would soon become bloated and drained. To be more productive, [...]
To be nice is not to be naive — it is to be free from the control of vice
Some people say, “If you are nice, you will be exploited by others.” They equate being nice with being naive, with the starry-eyed belief that [...]
To make people suffer for the sake of making them suffer is the very essence of evil
Suppose we accidentally step on someone’s foot. We’ll immediately apologize. But suppose someone deliberately steps on someone else’s foot – and not just steps but [...]
A God who pretended we had no shortcomings would be a God who did not take our potential seriously
Suppose a coach tells a trainee-athlete, “You are perfect; you have no shortcomings.” Such pampering suggests that the coach doesn’t see any potential in that [...]
When nothing feels filthy, everything may be tidy – or everything may be filthy
Suppose we enter a tidy room. If we cast one thing around carelessly, it stands out as an eyesore. But if the whole room is [...]
Be terrified about how terrible you can be, to never become that terrible
Suppose we read about some people doing terrible things, such as terrorists murdering innocent people. We may feel revolted, “What kind of human being would [...]
Everyone has values, but not everyone’s values reflect real value
Many people lament the lack of values in today’s world: “So many corrupt people sacrifice higher principles for petty pleasures.” Actually however, everyone has values [...]
To be brave, we don’t need to be free from fear, we just need a purpose bigger than fear
Whenever we are called to do something that is difficult and dangerous, we may feel apprehensive and think, “As I am feeling so much fear, [...]
Arrogance keeps us not just in ignorance, but also in ignorance about the extent of our ignorance
Suppose someone swims in an ocean, knowing that the ocean is so vast that they hardly know anything about it. While swimming, they will be [...]
Just because we have a right to be angry doesn’t mean we are right to be angry
Sometimes, people wrong us by acting foolishly, irresponsibly or treacherously. At such times, we feel angry with them and also feel that our anger is [...]
In dealing with our urges, if we don’t consciously choose responsibility, we unconsciously choose slavery
We all treasure our freedom and would fight if someone tried to enslave us. Yet many of us unconsciously let ourselves get enslaved. How? By [...]
Scripture is meant to be not just mapped, but also mined
Suppose we are in a territory rich with buried treasures. We may need to initially map the territory, but we will become rich only when [...]
Exploiting others’ weaknesses doesn’t make us strong – overcoming our own weaknesses does
Some people see the world primarily in terms of power struggles. They center their life on maneuvering and manipulating to get the upper hand over [...]
The desire that the dark be darker defines a dark mind
Suppose we know that someone is short-tempered. Suppose further we hear through the grapevine that they have assaulted someone. If we presume the rumor to [...]
Even if our worldview stays out of view, it shapes our every view
Suppose a beautiful bird is seen in the sky. A nature lover would reach for a camera to shoot its photo, whereas a hunter would [...]
Envy targets the envied, but torments the envious
Envy is the inner dark tendency that makes us miserable at others’ successes; it impels us to drag them down and plot their destruction. Envy [...]
Weakness makes us hotheaded, wickedness makes us cold-blooded
We all sometimes act wrongly. But not all wrong actions are equally serious – they fall at different points on a scale that extends from [...]
Intelligence is meant to be the mind’s instructor, not its instrument
We all have within us something that is impulsive and something that is reflective. Gita wisdom identifies the impulsive part as the mind and the [...]
We may forget gravity, but gravity won’t forget us
Suppose an intoxicated person forgets about gravity and steps off a ten-story building. Gravity won’t forget them; it will act and put them out of [...]
Artha divorced from dharma leads to anartha
Artha, wealth, and anartha, inner weakness, have a revealing relationship. Artha is vital for living, whereas anartha takes away the vitality of living. We need [...]
Read scripture and read from scripture – don’t read into scripture
For our life-journey, scripture is like a map. The Bhagavad-gita (16.24) urges us to make informed decisions based on scriptural knowledge. Let’s look at three [...]